To justify to a judge why it suspended web-hosting service for the conservative social media site, Amazon executives cited threats by Parler users to delivery drivers and staff at the ecommerce giant.

Parler went offline late Sunday after Amazon Web Services suspended its account, a potentially crippling blow for the social media site favored by right-wing extremists. Some extremists used the site to advocate violence ahead of last week’s riot at the U.S. Capitol. Parler responded by suing Amazon for ending the web hosting service.

Retailers can expect fresh opportunities and challenges, technological advancements and possible consolidation in 2021, the Digital Commerce 360 staff says. Shopping patterns are unlikely to return to the 'normal' of late 2019.

The Digital Commerce 360 staff is ringing in 2021 after a challenging, yet exciting year in online retail. Here are the top 15 favorite ecommerce stories of the year, as selected by our editors.

A slew of buyout firms flush with cash are seeking to buy small brands successfully selling on Amazon. These acquiring companies aim to put resources behind those brands, increasing their sales and profits. Meanwhile, the entrepreneurs who have built these small brands can cash out at attractive prices.

Amazon’s object is to persuade potential recruits that there’s no better place to work. The reality is less rosy. Many Amazon warehouse employees struggle to pay the bills, and more than 4,000 employees are on food stamps in nine states.

Starting Friday, the world’s largest retailer is removing the $35 minimum on online orders for Walmart+ members to receive free next-day or two-day shipping for most items. However, grocery orders from stores will still require that amount as a minimum for free expedited delivery.

For $5 every spent during the four days from Thanksgiving Day through the following Sunday, U.S. consumers spent nearly $1 to make purchases at Amazon.com. The ecommerce giant's market share for the period jumped 7.4 percentage points compared with 2019.

The shares of 10 publicly traded online retailers that are in the Top 1000 ranking of North America’s leading web merchants gained an average of 159% this year, soaring far faster than major stock indices, even as the Dow Jones set a record by surpassing 30,000. But there still were some losers among the online retail stocks.

To help avoid delivery delays during what’s already shaping up to be a blockbuster holiday season, the world’s largest online retailer has decided to throw people at the problem, even if it ends up with too many workers. So a few weeks ago, Amazon began dangling signing bonuses.